Jesus' Arrest and Trial (Jn. 18:1-19:16a)

The Arrest of Jesus (18:1-12)

The arrest of Jesus sets up the way that John is going to treat the entire Crucifixion story--Jesus is in control. In a sense, Jesus is not "killed" by the Jews and Romans; of His own will, He "lays down His life for His friends" (cf. John 15:13). Jesus initiates the conversation: "Whom are you seeking?"

"I am He . . ."

This is a normal form of self-identification (kind of a "You're lookin' at him, bub!"); however, the phrase "I AM" is also the Old Testament name of God. Jesus is, to Jewish ears, claiming identity with God; hence, the crowd of those who came to arrest Jesus "fall back" at the power of His words.



> Think about how Jesus responds to his arrest in 18:1-12. What do you learn about His character, mission, and values? What details of the story give you those impressions?



Peter's Denial of Jesus/Trial before the High Priest (18:13-27)

Annas is not technically the high priest; his son-in-law Caiaphas is. Probably this points to some very tricky politics going on in the highest office the Jews controlled (all political authority belonged to the Romans); so, "he was in all probability the real power in the land, whatever the legal technicalities" (Morris).



Woven into this story of Jesus' hearing before Annas is the story of Peter's denial of Jesus. The story sort of "switches scenes" from inside Annas' house to outside in the courtyard. This switching back and forth is something of a "motif" in the story of Jesus' trial (we'll see it again in the trial before Pilate).



"And Peter stood with them and warned himself . . ."

Notice that Peter is standing around with the officers who had gone to arrest Jesus, denying that he ever knew Him! However, notice also that the story of Jesus' arrest notes that Judas "who betrayed Him [Jesus], also stood with them" (v. 5). Peter's behavior at the hearing is treated like Judas' behavior at the arrest!



> Look at John 13:36-38, 18:10, 15-18, and 25-27. What do you learn about Peter's character? If his actions were virtually the same as Judas', then why was Peter saved and not Judas?


Trial Before Pilate (18:28-19:16a)
The trial before Pilate is treated at some length. Notice that Jesus evades Annas' questioning but is very forthright in answering Pilate (though Pilate doesn't really understand Jesus' answers). Also notice that Pilate goes "outside" to talk to the Jews (who refuse to enter the Praetorium), then back "inside" to talk to Jesus (that "scene switching" thing again).

The irony is that Pilate "asks more than he knows." For example, he asks Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" In fact, Pilate, YES HE IS--Jesus is the expected Messiah! Pilate also asks: "Where are You from?" Now, that's a LOADED question. Those who have read the opening of the Gospel of John know that Jesus is not "from Nazareth" but actually "from heaven." Pilate's questions serve to "move the action along" and point to the truth about Jesus that both he and "the Jews" (the chief priests and Temple officials in this instance) refuse to recognize.

> What does Jesus say to Pilate about His Kingdom (18:33-36), His mission (18:37), and His power (19:11)?

> What do Pilate's words and actions reveal about his character? How does Pilate's "authority" contrast with the authority of Jesus?

The Three P's

The Problem

It goes almost without saying that the few hours of weekly Bible instruction afforded by traditional church services is not nearly enough to build students, who find themselves beseiged by an ungodly culture, into mature Christians. While doctors tell us that our bodies need "three square meals a day" in order to be healthy and grow, many are trying to subsist spiritually on three "meals" a week! Small wonder that there are so many weak Christians, right?

It also goes almost without saying that few people find anything more difficult than establishing a habit of "daily devotions," a time of personal prayer and Bible study. For many, the whole idea of "personal Bible study" sounds dangerous because we've all met those wild-eyed people who tell us that, last night, as they were doing their "personal Bible study," God revealed to them that the Ark was actually an alien spacecraft that took all the dinosaurs to live on planet P-63 in the Zarthan Galaxy, or some other crazy nonsense. We much prefer to leave "Bible study" to the experts--pastors, professors, and such.

But I would say that those lunatics who've discovered the existence of extraterrestial life in the book of Nehemiah are precisely the reason why we must learn about "personal Bible study." As with most parts of the Christian life, there's actually two ways to go about it--the right way and the wrong way. I'll let you guess which way we're leanin' here.

The Purpose

"EAT His Word" is a guided-discussion blog designed as a tool to help students more effectively study and apply the Word of God. "EAT" is an acronym for "Enhanced Apostolic Teaching." This blog is "enhanced Bible study" in at least two ways. First, we hope that it will foster extended interaction with God's Word on a daily or almost-daily basis. Secondly, "EAT His Word" is not focused simply on doing Bible studies but on learning how to study the Bible. That's a BIG difference! If you can grasp the underlying principles of this Bible study method, you can more confidently tackle biblical teaching on any topic, knowing that you probably won't come away with a new theory about the Loch Ness monster!

The Plan

So the plan is real simple. Each Monday, I will post the "Bible Buffet"--the Scripture passage/s that we will be meditating on throughout the week. I will be sure to include some "Appetizer" questions to get you thinking about the passage/s we're discussing. Each student will then have the opportunity to post their thoughts and learning about the passage/s under consideration.

Ideally, I would like student posts to cover three areas, but we'll settle for two out of three (life gets busy, I know). Here's the areas I'd like you to cover in your posts:

Dietary Supplement-Complete the following statement: "One thing I learned about the Scripture/s we're studying that really helped me understand them better is . . ." This one is for the nerds among us who thrive on trivia that no one else considers useful (and, yes, I mean Danny and Dustin--jk). Do some "research"! Check commentaries, Bible dictionaries, concordances for interesting connections with other passages and things you didn't know about this chapter or book. For example, f the passage mentions a specific location, look it up on an atlas. Find out what the name of the place actually means. You know, geek out on the Bible!

Table Talk-Complete the following statement: "One question that came to my mind as I read the Scripture/s we're studying was . . ." So, maybe you didn't get your geek on and have some amazing insight into the original Greek to share with the rest of the class. That's cool. Because maybe you thought of a really interesting question after checkin' out the "Bible Buffet." So, here you go, hepcat; share with everyone how Scripture is "blowin' your mind," dude!

Burning Calories-Complete the following statement: "One thing that I think the Scripture/s are telling me to do is . . ." No Greek. No questions. Just God grabbing your attention and saying, "Hey. You. Do that." Please share.

Really looking forward to this! Ciao.

I was wondering...

I was reading Genesis 48, where the dying Jacob blesses Josephs two sons Manasseh(oldest) and Ephraim(youngest). The boys were placed, Manasseh on the right side of Jacob and Ephraim on the left. But when Jacob blesses them he crosses his hands, so his left goes to Manasseh and his right is on Ephraim. Joseph tries to correct Jacob thinking that because he was half blind, he made a mistake. But Jacob said in Genesis 48:19(NLT) "...Manasseh will be a great people but his younger brother will become even greater." What did he mean?

Testing, Testing 1 . . .2 . . .3 . . .

This is only a test . . .if this had been a real post, it would have been longer.